Knew All Along
by HarvesterKirbytaro
Summary: Camp Kidney gets a new counselor, who turns out to be a girl. Will the Bean Scouts be able to get along with her?
1. Chapter 1

Here's my fanfic, "Knew All Along." Remember, I don't own Camp Lazlo or any of the characters except Harriet.

Chapter 1: New Summer... and a New Counselor?

It was the first day of summer camp for Camp Kidney. The weather was nice and sunny: the same kind of weather the camp had for the first day of camp for the past few years. Lazlo thought it was great; Edward thought it was just a coincidence. Slinkman pulled the bus near the camp's gate, and said with a happy voice, "All right, scouts! After you get off the bus, you can form a line so you can find out what your cabins are." Slinkman had said it rather loud, so he woke Lumpus up out of his "nap".

"Slinkman! You always do that every year! Can't you learn how to be quieter?" Lumpus yelled harshly.

"But, sir, you know it's not good to yell in front of the scouts-" Slinkman tried to say but got cut off by Edward talking.

"Does it matter? Can you move now? I want to get off this bus and get this over with!"

"Oh... umm.. sorry, Edward," Slinkman said in a quieter tone, then got off after Edward.

Camp Kidney looked exactly the same as it did before. The same cabins, the same Mess Hall, the same Leaky Lake... which didn't really matter much to Lazlo, Clam or Raj at all. The 3 were staring at some birds when Slinkman called out, "Okay everyone! I've got some exciting things to tell you!" Hearing that, the trio ran towards the others. _Just what was so exciting to Slinkman? _they thought.

"First off, welcome back to camp, scouts! It's great to have you here," Slinkman started saying, and then asigned everyone their cabins. The cabins were exactly the same as last year, so it wasn't much of a surprise. Although it seemed like that was all Slinkman had to say, he then said rather suddenly, "Oh yeah! There's one more thing I have to tell you. You see, we have a new counselor here to help us out with things."

"A new counselor? That's so cool! I bet he'll be able to teach us some really cool stuff!" Lazlo said excitedly.

"Keep your pants on, monkey boy. A new counselor means more work. Lumpus probably just hired him because no one else would want to help here," Edward taunted. Lazlo just smiled it off as nothing and turned around.

"When is the new counselor coming?" Raj asked Slinkman.

"I'm not exactly sure! It should be pretty soon, though. You all look a little tired, so why don't you go take a rest in your cabins for a while? I'll let you know when the counselor comes," Slinkman answered. All the scouts scurried to their cabins, leaving just Lumpus and Slinkman alone.

"Should I have told them, sir?" Slinkman inquired.

"Told them what?" Lumpus asked.

"That the new counselor is a girl. You think they'll take it the wrong way?" Slinkman said, a little worried.

"Nah! They'll find out soon enough. It's not our problem that we couldn't find anyone else for the job," Lumpus answered. Then, pausing for a bit, he then asked, "Are you sure she's coming?"

"Of course she's coming! She would never back off on her first day," Slinkman said reassuringly.

-----

"I can't wait to see the new counselor!" Lazlo said back in Jelly Cabin to his two best friends, Raj and Clam.

"I hope the counselor doesn't work us really hard or make us do a lot of chores," Raj said in a scared tone.

"Hard labor!" Clam said in agreement.

"Nonsense! Slinkman said himself that the counselor would _help _us at Camp Kidney. Scoutmaster Lumpus would never hire a person who wouldn't help," Lazlo said, in an attempt to get them to stop worrying.

"But Scoutmaster Lumpus would probably not care if the counselor was mean or not," Raj said pessimistically.

"Then we can talk to him about it. I have a feeling that having a counselor will be a great thing for Camp Kidney," Lazlo said. Around then, Lazlo heard a knock on their door. Lazlo ran to open it.

"Who is it?" Lazlo called out. Nothing.

"Doorbell ding-dong?" Clam asked.

"I guess so, Clam," Lazlo sighed. He started walking back to Raj and Clam, but he heard the knock again. Lazlo opened the door, but still nothing.

"Okay, this is starting to get weird!" Lazlo yelled with annoyance.

"M-maybe the counselor is trying to scare us?" Raj asked, frightened beyond belief now.

"But Slinkman was going to tell us when the counselor came. I'm sure it's just the wind," Lazlo said.

"But how can _wind _make a door knock itself?" Raj asked. They stopped to think, but Clam went towards the window and then suddenly ran out the door.

"What's with Clam?" Raj asked. Just then, they heard a gasping noise outside Jelly Cabin that sounded quite a lot like Edward's. Clam came running back in the cabin, carrying Edward in with him.

"Caught ding-dong!" Clam said happily.

"Let go of me, Clam! You just _couldn't _resist busting me, could you? Huh?" Edward yelled frantically. Obeying Edward, Clam dropped him on the floor right there.

"I didn't mean there! You could have at least done it outside!" Edward said, fairly annoyed by now, but ran out anyway.

"I-I knew it was Edward! Of course I did!" Raj said, trying to hide his fear that was now gone. They then heard another knock. This time though, when Lazlo opened it, Slinkman was there.

"Is the counselor here?" Lazlo asked hurriedly.

"No, but I want you and the other scouts to stay outside for now, in case she- I-I mean, the counselor comes!" Slinkman said, trying to hide his mistake. Thankfully, none of the three had heard it, so they got out of Jelly Cabin and went by some of the other scouts.

-----

The scouts had then got organized into a game of kickball. Slinkman stood near them, a little worried about the counselor. Just then, they all stopped and heard something that sounded like heavy panting. The mysterious figure then came closer, and they were able to tell it was a person.

"I'm so sorry I'm late! I hope I didn't miss anything important," the person said. For a guy, the person definetely had a very high voice. The person also smelled of some kind of exotic perfume. When they looked up at who the person was, they were shocked to see who it was.


	2. Chapter 2

A big thankyou to my reviewers! You guys are cool. In case you're wondering, I'll probably make this story have a Chef McMeuslixOC pairing. I forgot to mention it in the description. xD But nothing too heavy. I'll keep it simple for now. Remember, I don't own Camp Lazlo (or "Autobiography").

Chapter 2: That's Who I Am

The woman they saw looked like a hamster with golden fur on top and white on the bottom. She wore a tan sun hat with a pink ribbon attached to it that hid most of the top of her head. She had a white shirt with thin red, light yellow, blue and lime green stripes on with a skirt completely in light blue. To top it off, she had light magenta and white sandals. But she had a warm smile that seemed to bring out her light purple eyes a little. She didn't seem to notice everyone staring at her, so she started talking a bit more.

"My car wouldn't start up, so I decided to run here. ... Oh! I should probably introduce myself. My name's-"

"What are you doing here?!?!" Edward asked frantically.

"... Harriet. But I thought Slinkman had told you that I would be coming," Harriet said, a little confused in tone. Everyone then looked at Slinkman, who was sweating a little bit with all the pressure on him. He tried to speak, but words wouldn't come out of his mouth, so Lumpus answered for him. "Slinkman was _going _tell you about it, but he chickened out, so you had to figure it out the hard way!"

Edward was started to get fumed about the situation. "But why did you choose her? Out of all the lame things you've done, you couldn't have-"

Harriet was starting to get worried about the argument, so she tried to stop it. "Guys, don't fight! I know, it might sound odd having me here, but couldn't you at least give me a chance?"

"How do we know you're not going to just act like a girl?" Samson asked. Everyone seemed to just ignore him, which kind of got him mad. Still though, it seemed like no one was paying any attention.

"Hmm... looks like it's twelve thirty, so maybe I could tell you more about me while we're eating," Harriet suggested.

"Sounds like a great idea to me!" Lazlo exclaimed. Edward stared at him, but he couldn't say anything then because everyone was walking into the Mess Hall.

----

Inside the Mess Hall, they heard some music coming from a nice looking radio, along with Chef McMeusli... singing to it?

_Got stains on my t-shirt and I'm the biggest flirt  
Right now I'm solo, but that will be changing eventually, oh  
Got bruises on my heart and sometimes I get dark  
If you want my auto, want my autobiography  
Baby, just ask me_

By then, everyone had noticed him, so he quickly turned the radio off and stopped.

"Hehehe... well, you have to do something to pass time! Well, welcome back, campers! I bet you grew lots of anticipation for what you're eating today! I decided that since it's your first day back, I should make some Pecan Spinach Pasta for you," Chef McMeusli said, rather energetically. He then showed it to them eagerly. A lot of the Bean Scouts groaned, but he didn't seem to notice. He didn't notice Harriet either, standing somewhat in the back.

"I can't believe you didn't even notice Harriet! How rude!" Edward taunted, wondering what his reaction would be. Chef McMeusli got a little embarrassed, but tried to hide it.

".. Really? Oh! I didn't see you there! Well.. umm... welcome, Harriet!" He said nervously.

"Oh, hi! It's fine. Sometimes I kind of blend in with things," She said assuringly.

The campers then started lining up to get the pasta. When Harriet (finally) came to the front of the line, Chef McMeusli asked her, "Harriet, I know this sounds strange, but would you mind at all if I sat by you so we could.. umm.. talk about things?"

"Oh... umm... okay! I have some other scouts sitting by me, but I wouldn't mind at all if you did too!" Harriet said happily. They took their seats at a table, and Harriet started talking.

"I think the best way for me to get to know you for now is for all of you to say your names. So! You guys can start, then I'll try to repeat it," Harriet said. The scouts told her their names, and Harriet remembered them pretty well.

"I had a friend named Edward once!" Harriet said in response to Edward's name. He smiled a little at that, but then he asked her, "What's your last name?"

"Why would you want to know that, Edward?" Harriet asked.

"Oh.. umm... just for kicks?" He replied.

"Well, in that case, my last name is Uzakawe. But you don't need to call me Miss Uzakawe unless you really feel like it," Harriet answered. Everyone kind of looked confused, and then Edward finally spoke up.

"What kind of name is _that?_ It sounds like something you'd... give a clown!" Everyone started laughing, but then Harriet spoke up.

"Actually, it's a Japanese name," Harriet said.

"So that means you're Japanese?" Lazlo asked.

"Yes! I lived in Japan until I was 4, so I don't remember a lot of what it's like," Harriet stated.

"Wow! That's so cool!" Lazlo said excitedly. Chef McMeusli was both mad at the fact that no one was eating and happy to just listen to what they were saying. But after a while, Harriet said, "A lot of people have names that are from different countries, first and last. For example, Heimlich's name is German, I'm guessing."

"What? How did you know my name?" Chef McMeusli asked.

"I noticed your name in your father's books. He wrote about you a lot in his books, you know," she said with a smile. Just then, Lumpus and Slinkman came in and look rushed.

"Come on, scouts! You don't want to miss any activities today, or you'll have to wait until tomorrow!" Lumpus yelled.

"Actually, I kind of feel like staying here. Harriet's telling us a lot of interresting things," Lazlo said happily.

"But, Lazlo! They fixed the canoes that were broken last year, so we can take them out today! I don't want to miss that!" Raj said hurriedly.

"Canoes fixed!" Clam said happily.

"Well, if you guys want to.. okay," Lazlo said, with a sigh.

"I would really appreciate it if you guys finished your food before lea-" Chef McMeusli tried to say, but they had all left, leaving him and Harriet alone. They stared at each other for a few seconds, and started laughing.

"Would you mind if-"

"Not at all!" Harriet said smiling. "Do they do this a lot?" He nodded, but then he added, "Oh well, they _are_ still kids," They spent the next 20 minutes picking up all the pasta and to their dismay, they had to throw most of it away.

"Looks like it's getting late... I should probably let you go," Chef McMeusli said after the last dish was cleaned.

"Okay, well, bye, for now! I'll see you... in a few hours?" Harriet asked.

"Actually, I think the scouts are having a picnic with the Squirrel Scouts tonight, and they kind of insisted that they do the food themselves," He said, with a little bit of a laugh. "So I'll see you _tomorrow_," He said.

----

After Harriet walked out of the Mess Hall, she heard Lazlo say, "Hey, Harriet! Would you mind being our pitcher for kickball?"

"Sure thing, Lazlo!" She said and went to grab the bright yellow kickball that looked new. It smelled new, too.


	3. Chapter 3

Again, thanks for reviewing! I think I have some ideas on future chapters now. But I don't know for sure. I still don't own Camp Lazlo no matter what.

Chapter 3: Picnicking with the Squirrels

"But Lazlo, I thought you were all going to test out the canoes!" Harriet said, curious.

"Well, we were _going _to, but as we were starting to go into the lake, we started sinking! Someone must've put holes in there or something," Lazlo said. "Okay, so Harriet is all-time pitcher, and we can have Jelly Cabin and Pinto Cabin against Fava Cabin and the Lemmings," Lazlo said, almost like a referee.

The teams were set up, so they started playing. After around 20 minutes or so, Raj kicked the ball and went straight towards Harriet. The ball went soaring past Harriet, but since no one was there to get it, she heard Edward say, "Harriet! It looks like you'll have to get it!" Around that time, Chef McMeusli was walking unto the field, but Harriet didn't seem to notice him there, so she crashed into him and the ball bounced off her unto Samson. He fell over, but it stayed on his stomach so he picked it up and felt great that he had "caught" it. But everyone was staring at the two's collision that they had completely forgotten about him.

"Harriet, are you okay? I should've been watching more," Chef McMeusli said, helping her up.

"Yes, but it's actually more of my fault, because I should've seen you there..." Harriet said, sighing.

"I didn't intend on disrupting your game, but you left this at the Mess Hall," He said, handing her a purple contact lens case. She bashfully took it and put it in her pocket. He started walking off the field, but nearly got runover by Lumpus. "Scouts, we should get ready to go now! I don't want Miss Doe- I mean the Squirrel Scouts to think we like being late!" Lumpus yelled. The scouts ran towards the pier so they could get into their small boat that almost always sunk because of watermelons that the Squirrel Scouts liked to hurl out. It was their only option to get there besides swimming or walking completely around camp, so they had to use what they had. Harriet stood in a daze for a while before Lumpus yelled, "Come on, Harriet! Don't be slow!"

"I'm coming... well, actually, I feel like walking," Harriet said.

"Well, alright, but hurry!" Lumpus said. _"A good time to practice my running," _Harriet thought to herself, as she started her run. The sky was an excellent shade of blue, and the sun was peeking out of the many trees that made a beautiful scene. Harriet wanted to stop and take a few minutes to enjoy it, but she knew she had to keep going. She wasn't able to see Leaky Lake from there, but she had a feeling that the scouts were ahead of her. She noticed a squirrel chasing a nut that happened to get crushed by Harriet's foot. "Hi, little guy! I-I didn't mean to break it.." she said, but the squirrel clearly looked mad. He started trotting quietly, but that then turned into a raged run and started chasing Harriet. She felt exhausted running so fast, but she couldn't stop. Before she knew it, she had reached Acorn Flats and nearly ran into a tree. The squirrel had thankfully found a different nut and chased, giving her time to catch her breath.

She looked around, but didn't notice the Bean Scouts anywhere, so she waited by the pier for them. When she caught sight of them, they had surprisingly kept the boat in good shape. In fact, looking up, she didn't see anyone at the tower. _"They must be busy setting things up for the picnic," _she thought. By the time the scouts had reached the pier, they were surprised to see Harriet there already, who stood quietly thinking about other things.

"Wow, Harriet, I'm surprised you got here so quickly!" Lazlo exclaimed as he got off the boat.

"Well, I kind of had to move fast towards the end..." Harriet said, a little shaky in tone. She hoped no one would ask her why, and thankfully, they didn't.

"I wonder where everyone is! I have not seen any sign of anyone yet," Raj said, confused.

"Complete solitude!" Clam said in unison.

"I'm guessing that they're setting up towards the back of camp," Harriet added. Although it appeared that no one was there, she suddenly heard a hyper voice yell, "You must be the new counselor for Camp Kidney!" the female deer, Miss Doe, said. As Harriet went to shake her hand, Miss Doe squeezed her tightly that kept her from doing anything else. "Nice... to meet... you... too!" Harriet tried to let out. When she finally let go of Harriet, she moved towards Scoutmaster Lumpus and said, "I'm so glad you and the boys could come, Scoutmaster Lumpus! I bet you couldn't wait to see them again!" she said, pronouncing 'Lumpus' wrong like always. He blushed slightly, but then said, "I _always _keep my scouts in mind, Miss Doe! Sometimes I wish I could be with them all the time..." Lumpus said. But looking at Slinkman's disapproving face, Harriet could tell that he was lying.

After looking around Acorn Flats for a few seconds, she noticed a female warthog that had a kind of expression on her face that made her look like she didn't care about anything going on. She moved toward Miss Doe, who said, "Miss Mucus, you should say hi to Harriet!" and pointed to Harriet. "..Hello!" Harriet said worriedly, extending out her hand. Miss Mucus pushed it away, saying, "Don't even think about it." Harriet looked a little surprised, but tried to carry on a conversation. "So... umm... aren't you glad that the weather turned out to be nice?" Miss Mucus ignored her question, and gave her a face that Harriet knew that kind of meant for her to stay away. She walked towards Miss Doe again, who then said, "Well, now that you're here, we should probably start eating!" in her energetic tone. They all walked towards a long table that had been set up nicely with blue plates and cute lavender napkins and plastic silverware. They had all sorts of food lined up that looked like it would last for at least a week and a half. She noticed Lumpus take a seat next to Miss Doe, so she sat next to Slinkman.

"Well, Squirrels, before you start eating, I'd like you to meet Harriet, the Bean Scout's new counselor!" Miss Doe said, followed by her clapping. She was the only one who did, but she didn't care.

"I'd like everyone to know that I feel great that I could be here, and if you need help with anything, be sure to ask! I'm sure it won't take you long at all to get used to me," Harriet said shyly. Miss Mucus snorted at her last comment, which no one noticed. Patsy was staring at Lazlo, who was sitting across from her instead of listening to Harriet. "Stop starin' at the monkey boy and listen to the hamster!" Miss Mucus said loudly enough to stop everyone from what they were doing and stare at her.

"Umm... well... I guess that should be it for now, so why don't we... uhh... see what we have for dinner?" Harriet said rather quietly, and then averted her gaze back at the table, rather than everyone else. Everyone started eating, and for the rest of the time, no one had said anything provoking.

After dinner, Harriet asked, "Would you like for me to pick up trash? I wouldn't mind-"

"No, that's fine, we have someone hired to do it for us," Nina said, looking at Harriet. "It's great to finally meet you in person, Harriet," she said. "You seem to be more of a sophisticated person." Harriet shyly took her sunhat off and put it back on again. "Thanks. You look very sophistaced as well! More than me, that's for sure," Harriet said.

"Harriet's from Japan, you know, Nina," Lazlo said a bit proudly, which caused Nina to become excited. "Really? Truly? They have so many intriguing different types of styles in Japan!" Nina said energetically. "What are your hobbies, Harriet?" Nina asked.

"I do flower arranging as a job. It's not exactly the most high paying job out there, but I enjoy doing it. I also do rhythmic gymnastics in my free time... which happens to be a lot!" Harriet exclaimed.

"Is that a type of gymnastics?" Nina asked.

"Yes, it is! It's not really popular, but I still think it's fun," Harriet said. "Oh, and I know this sounds strange, but I love playing the accordion!" Harriet said happily, which caused Lazlo and Nina to look confused for a few seconds. "... Well, would you look at the time? It happens to be 6 already! I should probably get going," Harriet said hurriedly, and then ran off towards Slinkman and Lumpus.

"Need something, Harriet?" Slinkman asked thoughfully.

"No! Do you guys need to know what time it is?" Harriet asked. Lumpus and Slinkman looked at each other, and then Lumpus asked, "Are you really that bored yet?"

"No, I just... well, yeah. It _is _6, by the way. Shouldn't we be heading back now?" Harriet asked.

"If you feel that way, then sure, you can go. We'll be getting back pretty soon, but I want to talk to more people first," Lumpus said. "You don't mind running again? And it's getting dark too, you know," But Harriet still nodded her head. "Well, at least take this flashlight," Slinkman said, handing her a small light flashlight. She turned it on to make sure that it worked but turned it off again and walked away.

----

The quietness of the nighttime around the two camps made Harriet feel uneasy. She could almost hear her feet stepping on twigs and rocks that caused her to be careful in case "something" appeared. She kept walking, but she felt nervous. She stopped to look around, and she didn't see anything, but as she was about to start walking, she felt something move from behind a tree. She shrieked, and she turned on the flashlight to see what it was.

"I guess I kind of scared you, huh? Well, at least I'm not a squirrel this time.." Chef McMeusli said, smiling.

"You stalking me this whole time?! I can't believe you'd do that!" Harriet yelled. She felt like slapping him with the flashlight, but she knew in the end it would be better if she didn't. She stood still, looking at him dissapprovingly.

"Gee, well, you kind of forgot this.. again," He said, handing her the purple contact lens. "You should carry a purse so it doesn't fall out all the time."

"_I'll _make my own decisions, if you must know!" Harriet said, grabbing the case angrily. "Why couldn't you have just waited until tomorrow?" She asked.

"Because, I... wanted to see you. You're an interesting person, and I want to know more about you. I won't follow you around like that again, though. I promise," Chef McMeusli said, walking again. "Besides, it's easier to walk around with someone else." Harriet followed him, but couldn't help but ask questions.

" Well, I think you're pretty interesting too. So you _really _wanted to see me?" Harriet asked, not as mad.

"Why else would I follow you?" He said, smiling. The wind seemed to grow a bit colder, although neither of them complained. The moon was a full moon that day, and was right in front of them, which caused them to stop.

"It's amazing on how the moon can be so bright, even in complete darkness like this," Chef McMeusli said. "Sometimes when I was younger, I pretended that I went to the moon. I had 2 cats as pets back then, so I always made them "come with" me. They must have sensed my anxiousness for that kind of stuff, since they never tried to run away," They stood in silence, looking at the moon. The wind grew fiercer after a few minutes, causing the trees to move wildly.

"We should probably start moving, especially since the wind's causing the clouds to blow over the moon," Chef McMeusli suggested. "Want me to take you back to Camp Kidney?" He asked.

"Actually, they didn't set up another cabin for me, and since my house is really close to Camp Kidney, Slinkman suggested I just go to my house at night," Harriet said. The two walked in silence, occasionally stopping to look at trees. By the time they had reached the end of Prickly Pines, Chef McMeusli said, "Wow, for a place "really close", it seems far for me..."

"I got used to it after a while. I always jog in the morning, so I guess something really close is different for me," Harriet said smiling. They reached a house with a lot of circle stones leading up to the front door and a light green mailbox. "This it?" Chef McMeusli asked. Harriet nodded, and added, "It looks kind of odd, but I love it! It's normally pretty quiet,"

"Interesting. ...Wait! I live across from here!" Chef McMeusli excalimed, then pointed to a house directly across from Harriet's. "Why I never noticed you before, I have no idea..." he said.

"You could have just looked my name up in a phonebook... but you probably wouldn't have known my name then. Oh well. Thanks for taking me back, though," Harriet said, moving toward her door.

"Oh, it's no problem! If you need anything, I'm here for you!" Chef McMeusli said happily, extending his arm out. "We never did get to shake hands," Harriet smiled, and they both shook eagerly.

"Well, see you bright and early in the morning!" Chef McMeusli said happily.

"That won't be a problem for me! I jog at 5:30," Harriet said.

"Did you say 5:30?? Sometimes I go to bed at 5:30..." Chef McMeusli said amazed. "Well, bye for now!" he said, walking across to his house.


End file.
